Clare Smout

Clare Smout has contributed courses to the Institute's weekend programme since 2007, teaching Shakespeare, Early Modern Drama and Irish Drama. She is a part-time Teaching Fellow at the University of Birmingham, a Visiting Lecturer at Newman University and a major contributor to Crandall University's Study Programme at Oxford. Other regular teaching includes projects for i-Learner (Hong Kong) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is currently co-editing The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Women on Stage.

Clare previously spent two decades in professional theatre, specialising in directing and in developing new writing, and this has shaped her research and teaching interests. She still directs whenever possible: her most recent project was an adaptation of King Lear for primary school students in Hong Kong. She regularly contributes theatre reviews to academic journals.

Clare's approach to teaching is essentially interactive. Most sessions are a combination of informal lecturing, full group discussion and small group work. They generally include DVD clips of the plays being studied and occasionally involve students in reading short extracts. Clare believes the strength of courses such as those at the Institute comes from the opportunity for students to exchange ideas and debate interpretations, as well as to gain insights from the tutor's specialist knowledge and enthusiasms. The weekends at Madingley are the highlight of her teaching year. It is a great joy to work with students who are so informed, motivated and engaged, and a privilege to have time to explore these plays together in such detail.